SOS need some allergy advice

[flamingo]

Hey I am almost done my vet tech course

I never had a bad reaction to an animal and had cats dogs and birds my whole life

I just got back from an allergy test and it says I am allergic to both cats and birds? Not crazy allergic but a def allergy? WTH?

Does this mean I cannot be a tech ? Also I have so many birds? I never had a reaction to them? Is it because conures and quakers are not dusty? I only have one cat...

[Harpmaker]

My husband is allergic to some cats, but not others. I have seen him pet a siamese cat outside (well-ventilated) and be nearly unable to breathe within 3 minutes. We currently have two cats, both rescues, that can sit on his lap for hours and not cause a reaction. I just tell anyone I get a cat from that keeping it is contingent on Hubby being able to breathe around it.

It sounds like you have a similar allergy. You need either a partner that can handle the animals you can't, or some good allergy meds.

[marie83]

I shouldn't think your allergies would stop you becoming a tech if that is what you want to be- an employer might not like it but I shouldn't think there are any rules saying you cant. It depends more on how badly allergic you are and the type of person you are. I'm badly allergic to a lot of animals to the point it makes me really ill at times but I still have my own pets, used to work with animals and am going back to working with animals. I do as much as I can to lessen my symptoms but I still itch, sneeze, struggle to sleep, feel constantly exhausted etc.

Now the way you worded it makes it sound like you were not even aware you had an allergy until the blood test? or did you just suddenly have a reaction and that's what prompted the blood test? If you wasn't aware of the allergy you could probably practice as a tech and not suffer too much but do be very aware that that could change at any time, you could get better, you could get worse (at my worst point I was 19 and forced into leaving my job because I couldn't cope any longer).

Just be aware that you wont get much sympathy for suffering with allergies, people don't tend to see it as an illness (in this country at least) and have the its just an allergy attitude. The truth it your immune system will become weakened, you will become tired as your body is constantly producing histamine.

I'm not going to tell you what to do but do some research, weigh up the pros and cons, would could go wrong etc. For me there's nothing else I want to do other than take care of animals so I put up with my allergies- some of them are much much worse now than 15 years ago so don't pay too much attention when people start telling you all about the allergies they grew out of- there's no guarantees of that.

Good luck and there's a few threads on here about managing allergies if you do a quick search.

[Pajarita]

Allergies can come and go... When I was a little girl of about 11 or 12, I became terribly allergic to horses' sweat. My eyes would end up red, swollen, tearing and my throat itched and itched something terrible and could not even see from all the sneezes... but I loved, loved, loved horse-back riding, had been doing it since I was five years old and wasn't going to give it up for no stinking allergy so I would still do it every afternoon during the summer vacations even though, sometimes, I would have to rely on my horse's 'horse sense' to get me back home because I was almost blinded by the whole thing. And, you know what? Eventually, the allergy went away! I always say that my body just gave up on it because it realized that I wasn't going to stop horse back-riding -LOL- So, don't despair, it might go away the same way it came.